The Homeboys
, Burr Redding, Reggie Rawls, Supreme Allah, Malcolm Coyle, Simon Adebisi, Mondo Browne, Kenny Wangler, Jefferson Keane, and Poet.]] The Homeboys are a gang of black prisoners in Oz involved in the prison drug trade. As 78% of Oz's prisoners are black (and most non-Muslim), their membership is larger than any other prison gang in Oz. Overview The Homeboys of Oz are a large organized gang of black inmates brought together by the drug-trade. As many of them come from impoverished and violent inner-city neighborhoods, the Homeboys are one of the most violent gangs in Oz. Many of the black inmates come from similar socio-economic backgrounds, violent criminal histories, and as victims of racial prejudice; they are thus often allied on the basis of a shared background and skin color. Although the group consists of several African-American inmates across all units and blocks of Oz, their leadership and main operations is shown throughout the series as being based in Emerald City. The leadership and membership of the Homeboys fluctuates dramatically throughout the series, mostly due to intense internal conflict and numerous violent struggles for the drug trade with many groups in Oz. They are initially led by Jefferson Keane, shortly followed by Paul Markstrom, then led to the top of the drug-trade by Simon Adebisi and then finally reorganized under Burr Redding. Homeboy inmates and lieutenants Kenny Wangler and Arnold "Poet" Jackson briefly lead the group but are revoked quickly as they are not as powerful or competent as the other leaders, instead fulfilling lieutenant roles. A constant influx of prisoners, as well as internal disputes and casualties keep the Homeboys membership fluctuating; Johnny Post, Junior Pierce, Supreme Allah, Moses Deyell, Omar White, Mondo Browne, Leroy Tidd, Tug Daniels, Reggie Rawls and Malcolm Coyle are some prominent dealers and soldiers of the gang. Throughout the series, the Homeboys primarily feud with the Italian and later the Latino inmates (both of whom are constantly referred to with racial epithets by to as "guineas" and "spics," respectively) over the drug trade of Oz. Though on several occasions the three groups ally for a fair three-way split of the drug trade, the fluctuating leadership of the Homeboys causes the ties to be split and re-established several times. The Homeboys also constantly harass and fight several neutral and individual inmates of Oz such as Bob Rebadow and Tobias Beecher. and make significant enemies in Chris Keller and Ryan O'Reily, as well as drawing the ire of their Muslim brothers. Despite the shared racial hatred towards each other, the Homeboys conflict with Aryan Brotherhood and their Biker allies mostly on an indirect basis or due to basic racial tensions, as the Aryan's stance on drugs makes them minimally involved in the power disputes of the drug-trade, the Homeboy's primary concern. As Oz is also majority Black with the Homeboys constituting the largest gang, Warden Glynn on two occasions uses two African Americans narcotics detectives to try to acclimate to the Homeboys as a means of stopping the drug trade. Throughout the series, the Homeboys work in the kitchen with the Italian and Irish inmates, constantly vying for control over the workplace. This changes in the final season when Redding moves them to work as telemarketers. Plot Summary Season 1 *Episode 1.1 "The Routine" - Italian inmate Dino Ortolani's hotheaded behavior makes him a target of the Homeboys and Irish inmates, ultimately resulting in his death caused by Johnny Post. *Episode 1.2 "Visits, Conjugals and Otherwise" – Investigation by Staff Member Lenny Burrano convinces Ryan O'Reily to tell Nino Schibetta that Johnny Post murdered Ortolani. Post is killed, the war between the Homeboys and Italians then escalates. *Episode 1.3 "God's Chillin'" - Jefferson Keane undergoes a mental and emotional shift causing him to come to Kareem Saïd and join the Muslims, new inmate 16-year-old Kenny Wangler arrives in Oz and is suggested into the Homeboys by Simon Adebisi. *Episode 1.4 “Capital P” – Amidst the drug war, Irish inmate Ryan O'Reily manages to play for both the Homeboys and Italians at the same time resulting in the injury of Joey D'Angelo at the hands of Simon Adebisi and Kenny Wangler. Meanwhile Keane is the first prisoner in over 30 years to receive the death penalty after the COs set him up to kill two Latino inmates. *Episode 1.5 “Straight Life” – With a threat from Warden Glynn to stop dealing drugs, Nino Schibetta arranges to find the “bug” in the drug operation within Oz discovering Paul Markstrom's identity as a Narcotics Detective. With Markstrom and Keane gone in addition to the transfer of several Italian inmates out of Em City, Schibetta becomes more allied with Ryan O'Reily and Simon Adebisi whom he views as the best Black inmate to do drug business with. *Episode 1.7 "Plan B" – To get Schibetta out of the drug business, O’Reilly and Adebisi grind ground glass into his food over a period of months, resulting in his death in a very unnoticeable fashion. *Episode 1.8 "A Game of Checkers" – During a riot that breaks loose in Emerald City, several of the Homeboys go into heroin withdrawal that becomes problematic at times both before and after the riot. Season 2 *Episode 2.2 "Ancient Tribes" – Back in Emerald City, Nino Schibetta's son Peter arrives in Oz and blackmails Warden Glynn for control of the kitchen. To stay in the Italians’ good graces, O’Reilly informs Schibetta that Adebisi killed Nino giving the Italians more reason to war with the Homeboys. *Episode 2.3 "Great Men" - Poet does well in the inmate GED program while it is determined that Wangler is functionally illiterate. While Unit Manager Tim McManus attempts to teach him to read, Adebisi in the following episodes maintains control of Wangler forcing him to stop going to class. *Episode 2.5 “Family Bizness" – Out of Schibetta’s debt, Glynn gives Adebisi control of the cafeteria again transferring all the Italians into the dress factory. Peter is also given rat poison by Adebisi and ends up in the hospital. Adebisi also begins exchanging love notes with a woman on death row Shirley Bellinger. *Episode 2.6 “Strange Bedfellows” – To kill Adebisi, Pancamo and Schibetta then rent out the kitchen and make an attempt on his life. The attempt on Adebisi backfires though as Pancamo is beaten unconscious and Schibetta is brutally sodomized by Adebisi. Being the victim of rape, Peter is told by Burrano that someone else is coming into Oz to run the Italians' operations. Miguel Alvarez then approaches Adebisi to be partners in the drug trade but is refused for failing to help him take down the Italians. *Episode 2.7 “Strange Bedfellows” – Adebisi goes into disarray when he meets Shirley Bellinger and is rejected for being Black. Knocked in disarray by Adebisi, the Homeboys insult Pancamo and the Italians on a daily basis. This is until new leader Antonio Nappa shows up and takes charge of the Italians. To make Adebisi suffer for raping Peter, he asks Burrano what Simon values most which Burrano claims is heroin and Nappa than asks him to convince Glynn to conduct a random drug test depriving Adebisi of heroin. Adebisi then goes into withdrawal again attempting to murder Nappa but is stopped by an Elderly African inmate named Jara. *Episode 2.8 “Escape From Oz” – Off heroin and under the guidance of an African inmate named Kipekemie Jara. Adebisi is no longer a threat to the Italians who seek a partnership with Kenny Wangler. The condition of the alliance is for Wangler to kill Jara so that the Italians still have Adebisi under control. Wangler and Pierce then kill Jara and Adebisi goes to the psych ward. Season 3 *Episode 3.1 “The Truth and Nothing But..." – Released from the psych ward, Adebisi appears non-threatening and Nappa says he could be of use to the Italians after all. Nappa then has Wangler test out new inmate Malcolm Coyle who wants into the Homeboys. *Episode 3.2 “Napoleon’s Boney Parts” – Adebisi leaves the kitchen to volunteer for the AIDs ward as a means of getting revenge on Nappa whom he secretly infects with an HIV positive needle. In the meantime, Nappa fires Coyle to Wangler’s objection as he does not trust him. *Episode 3.3 "Legs" – Augustus Hill testifies against Coyle for murdering an Italian family and Wangler seeks revenge. At the request of Kareem Said, the Italians, Latinos, and Aryans all protect Hill and Nappa orders Coyle's murder as a means of keeping the Homeboys away from Hill. *Episode 3.5 "U.S. Male" – In the boxing tournament, Wangler loses to Hamid Khan then orders Poet to expose Muslim leader Kareem Said's feelings for a white woman. After learning his wife was cheating on him, Wangler has her and her lover executed and feigns remorse to attend the funeral. In the previous episode, feelings for a white woman. After learning his wife was cheating on him, Wangler has her and her lover executed and feigns remorse to attend the funeral. In the previous episode, Chucky Pancamo talks with Adebisi about becoming partners in drug trade, Adebisi then brings in the Latinos led by El Cid after injuring Poet and Pierce as Kenny is away subjecting Wangler to Adebisi's mercy upon his return. *Episode 3.7 "Secret Identities" - Wangler is subject to Adebisi's mercy and is forced by Adebisi to claim that Tim McManus sexually harassed him. Adebisi claims that he has a plan to get a Black man to run Emerald City and begins fueling racial tension throughout Oz. *Episode 3.8 "Out o' Time" - As the racial tension builds, Poet and Pierce are released from the hospital appearing with White pigmentation on their skin recovering from the kitchen accident. Adebisi has the Black inmates become more unified as a means of starting a riot to take over the prison. For fear of a lockdown, Chucky Pancamo and Raoul Hernandez ask Adebisi to cool the rhetoric unsuccessfully as the Black inmates unify upon Augustus Hill's trip to the hole. Earlier in the episode, Adebisi convinces Black CO Clayton Hughes to have the other Black officers join their cause and as a result, Hughes is fired but leaves Adebisi with a gift, a gun. Season 4 Part I *Episode 4.1 "A Cock and Balls Story" - The lockdown is ended and Adebisi's plan to get a Black man running Emerald City is still ongoing. Wangler suggests they use the gun but Adebisi claims that to get McManus fired, someone else needs to use the gun. Adebisi then has Wangler, Poet, and Pierce transferred back into Emerald City where the three bully a new White inmate Guillaume Tarrant. This is perfect for Adebisi who sees this as a way for a Black man to die at the hands of a White prompting his cause for a Black Unit manager to replace McManus. Adebisi also likes the fact that it will specifically be Wangler whom Tarrant fears and Adebisi still hates. Adebisi delivers the gun into Tarrant's pod and watches as he murders Wangler, Pierce, Lou Rath, and a CO Joseph Howard, all four of whom are Black prompting Adebisi's cause even further. *Episode 4.2 "Obituaries" - With the Emerald City shooting, Warden Glynn who is now a candidate for Lieutenant Governor is pressured by Adebisi and the other Blacks to fire Tim McManus and hire a Black Unit Manager whom they claim can maintain order in Emerald City and reduce the racially tense issues within Oz. McManus then self-destructs singing a song that denigrates Blacks at Officer Howard's funeral prompting Glynn to fire him immediately. Meanwhile, inmate Desmond Mobay wants into the drug trade and Adebisi suspicious of him being undercover asks him for a drug dealer that can vouche for him. *Episode 4.3 "The Bill of Wrongs" – Hernandez undergoes a mental breakdown and turns in Adebisi for the gun smuggling incident. Adebisi goes to the hole and Pancamo then determines that someone else needs to represent the Latino’s third. New inmate Enrique Morales is the best candidate and causes El Cid's death. The three gangster groups then begin to test new inmate Desmond Mobay who wants into the drug trade by forcing him to snort heroin to prove he is not undercover. To get a Black Unit Manager, Adebisi convinces the Muslims to get Black community leaders to pressure Glynn further. *Episode 4.4 "Works of Mercy" - Mobay is released from the hole following a drug shakedown but Adebisi is not convinced that he is worthy to be amongst them so he puts him to another test. This test involves taking punches from Pancamo which Mobay does. A straw poll is then taken where Pancamo Votes Yes, Adebisi votes No, and Morales abstains causing a tie vote concerning Mobay's worthiness. It is resolved if he kills an inmate, he can be amongst them. Adebisi then gets his wish when Martin Querns, an African American is hired as Unit Manager. Upon running Emerald City, Querns speaks with Adebisi and claims that he will look the other way on all the issues related to drug dealing as long as Adebisi and his followers eliminate violence from Emerald City. The two come to a mutual agreement and slowly the politics in Emerald City begin to change. *Episode 4.5 "Gray Matter" – To resolve Adebisi’s issues about Mobay joining their crew, the three groups agree to have him kill someone for membership making it look like an accident. New unit manager Martin Querns then names three trustees- Pancamo, Morales, and Adebisi who may deal all the drugs they wish in exchange for maintaining order in Emerald City. The Aryan and Biker inmates are then transferred out and Sean Murphy loses his position as the supervising CO of Emerald City. More Black inmates come into Em City including Leroy Tidd, Mondo Browne and new inmate Supreme Allah who is looking to lead both the Muslims and Homeboys. *Episode 4.6 "A Word to the Wise" - Travis Smith, a Black CO is named the head of Emerald City and all the Christian inmates (Except for their single Black member who becomes one of Adebisi's sex toys) are transferred out of Emerald City and replaced by Black inmates. Adebisi then dismisses Arif by not transferring in any Muslim inmates. Querns then trades all the Non-Black COs out of Em City and transfers in several Black COs and Claire Howell who disagreed with Tim McManus. With Mobay in, Adebisi has him, Browne, and Tidd recruit new drug customers under Poet's supervision. Immoral and Illegal behavior amongst the Black inmates increases as Querns lives up to his agreement ignoring their behavior in exchange for maintaining order. *Episode 4.7 “A Town Without Pity” – Supreme Allah threatens Zahir Arif and more Black inmates come into Emerald City courtesy of Querns and Adebisi when the Gays are transferred out. A fight nearly breaks out between Browne and Zanghi and the Italian and Latino inmates are cheated in the drug trade and then transferred to Unit B. Adebisi meanwhile is on a power trip recording videos of the Homeboys' antics that disgusts Kareem Saïd, the Muslims' reinstated leader who claims that "A bad system ran by Blacks is the same thing as a bad system run by Whites." Vowing to stop Adebisi and Querns, Said secretly teams up with Tim McManus and then pretends to ally himself with Adebisi. *Episode 4.8 "You Bet Your Life" - Glynn drops out of the Governor race after an assassination attempt done by Clayton Hughes against Governor Devlin and the Black inmates cheer. Tension builds around Mobay who ends up turning himself in for a murder of another inmate. To reintegrate Em City, two of the remaining white inmates Ryan O'Reily and Chris Keller murder Nate Shemin and Mondo Browne successfully framing Supreme Allah for the murder. Said then discovers Adebisi's videotapes courtesy of Poet and after moving into Adebisi's pod delivers them to Tim McManus. Glynn sees the tapes and fires Querns reinstating McManus who comes back to Em City transferring out several Black inmates. Angered by the disruption of his system, Adebisi attempts to kill Said but Kareem ends up killing him in self-defense. Season 4 Part II *Episode 4.10 "Conversions" - With Poet as the default leader, the Homeboys are out of the drug trade until elderly Black inmate Burr Redding (Who is stepfather to Augustus Hill) arrives and takes charge. A war builds between the Homeboys, Latinos, and Italians that results in Morales framing Redding for the murder of a Chinese refugee. *Episode 4.12 "Cuts Like A Knife" - Out of the cage, Redding finds more trouble in the drug war when Supreme Allah is released from solitary. After telling Augustus that Ketchum caused his arrest, Hill makes an attempt on Supreme that results in him being tossed out of his wheelchair and hospitalized. Redding at the suggestion of Chris Keller calls in Tug Daniels, the brother of the man Supreme is serving time for killing and has him make a murder attempt on him in the visiting room. Supreme lives though, Daniels gets sentenced to 28 years, and Poet goes to the cage for assisting Tug in the murder attempt. *Episode 4.13 "The Blizzard of '01" - In an attempt to eliminate the Homeboys' competition, Redding devises a plan to kill the Italians and Latinos in addition to Supreme Allah using Poet, Daniels, Jia Kenman and Omar White. Having second thoughts, Augustus informs the COs who then lock the prison down. *Episode 4.14 "Orpheus Descending" - The Lockdown is ended and McManus forces Redding and Morales to come to a truce. Redding then ex-communicates Augustus for tipping off the COs only allowing him to live because of their past relationship. Released from the hospital, Supreme tells Pancamo and Morales he will secure control of the Homeboys by killing Redding through Hill. *Episode 4.16 "Famous Last Words" - In the previous episode Daniels was murdered by Redding when a spy of his, Colonel Edward Galson tells him that he saw him conspiring to take over the Homeboys with Supreme Allah. Supreme then dies due to an allergic reaction in the cafeteria supplied by Augustus Hill whom Redding then lets back into the Homeboys. Galson then dies making an attempt on Morales under orders from Redding. Season 5 *Episode 5.3 “Dream a Little Dream of Me” – The Italians are knocked into disarray by the Aryans, so Redding makes peace with Morales causing the Homeboys and Latinos to ally in dealing drugs throughout Oz. *Episode 5.4 "Next Stop: Valhalla" – Redding convinces Glynn that he should manage the cafeteria and transfer out the Italians. Redding then forces Omar White to move drugs to Reggie Rawls in Unit C. Upset over some family losses, Hill goes to Poet for some heroin which in the following episode he ends up overdosing on. *Episode 5.6 “Variety” – With Hill in the hospital and Burr Redding on the warpath, Poet draws suspicion away from himself in Hill's drugging with Chico Guerra by scapegoating the Italians. They then get Agamemnon Busmalis to inform Redding that an Italian inmate Salvatore DeSanto sold the drugs to Augustus. Redding orders DeSanto's food to be mixed with LSD in the kitchen and at dinner, he then overdoses and dies. McManus however has no proof that Redding killed DeSanto as the kitchen has been competently cleaned. *Episode 5.7 "Good Intentions" - To find Hill's drug dealer, McManus interrogates him in the hospital claiming that Redding thinks the Italians sold him the drugs. Hill says they did not but will not give up Poet either. McManus then informs Redding refusing him and Augustus to see each other as he thinks another inmate will die at Burr's hands. Furious, he searches for Busmalis whom Poet coerces to tell Redding that Guerra and the Latinos are in fact responsible. This causes a fight between Morales and Redding and causes an end to the Homeboy/Latino alliance with both leaders going to the hole. Poet is then later paid to expose dental information about Aryan member James Robson that gets him excommunicated from the Brotherhood. *Episode 5.8 “Impotence” – While Redding and Morales are in Ad Seg, Augustus returns from the hospital and agrees not to rat out Poet to Redding. When Redding returns, he expresses his sorrow for having Augustus get on drugs in the first place. The Latinos in the meantime renew their alliance with the Italians and Frank Urbano then makes an attempt on Redding that ends up killing Augustus Hill. Season 6 *Episode 6.1 "Dead Man Talking" - With Hill dead, Redding is in mourning and then urged to lead the Homeboys once again as Kareem Said points out they are out of control attacking various inmates. *Episode 6.3 "Sonata Da Oz" - Inspired by a business plan, Redding asks for Said's help to start the Homeboys in the telemarketing business in Oz giving up the drug trade. *Episode 6.5 "4Giveness" - After following Poet out of the telemarketing business, the Homeboys attempt to sell drugs but come up short as Burr Redding asks the Italians to stop them from slinging. The Homeboys then go to work for Arif at the book-binding plant. *Episode 6.7 "Junkyard Dawgs" - Poet and Rawls agree to help new inmate Stanley Bukowski sell Marijuana-Flavored Brownies but he is stopped and killed by the Italians who see he is cutting into their business. Redding then destroys the binding plant as a means of repopulating his business. Poet leads them back to work for Burr where they will secretly steal credit card numbers which their friends and relatives on the outside can sell. Characters murdered in Oz by The Homeboys *'Dino Ortolani': Burned to death by Johnny Post. (1997) *'Julio Martinez': Neck snapped by Jefferson Keane via manipulation of Ryan O'Reily. (1997) *'Paul Markstrom': Executed by hanging by Simon Adebisi, on orders from Nino Schibetta. (1997) *'Nino Schibetta': Putting ground glass in Nino's food by Ryan and Adebisi. (1997) *'Kipekemie Jara': Stabbed in the back by Kenny Wangler, on orders from Antonio Nappa. (1998) *'Bruno Goergen': Pushed though the edge by Desmond Mobay, to earn respect of Pancamo, Morales and Adebisi. (2000) *'Mark Miles': Strangled to death by Moses Deyell, for being racist to him. (2000) *'Tug Daniels': Strangled to death by Burr Redding for betraying the Homeboys. (2001) *'Supreme Allah': Poisoned with eggs that Poet and Ryan put in his food, with help from Augustus Hill. (2001) *'Salvatore DeSanto': Spiked with LSD in his food by Poet on orders from Burr Redding. (2002) Homeboys Homeboys